Northern San Juan
AvalancheEddie Degitis · Jan 7, 2017 · Northern San Juan
Weather
Minnehaha Basin. -10F in morning at car. Bluebird morning then cloud coverage moved in around noon
Snowpack
A lot of new snow from past storm (2-3ft) with wind loading all over near and above treeline
Avalanche
Minnehaha Basin, South to SW face, Near Treeline, Skier Triggered Avalanche. No skiers buried. No injuries. Not exactly sure how it happen, but we think it was a turn taken near an area above an almost wind formed gully that caused propagation to the top of the ridge below a cornice and then everything broke across the top of the slope about 60-70 yards. We believe it was a wind slab that stepped down to a persistant slab. Started off small, then broke to ground and ripped the whole face off. Avalanche began about halfway down slope when slowly propagated to top. Skier was basically at end of line when it fully ripped to ground.